Sarah Allen

One of the great pleasures of visiting other countries is the occasional opportunity of meeting people from or in some way connected with Athy.  It is almost 30 years since I was first invited to the annual dinner of the Kildare Men’s Association in Manchester.  There I met many born in the shortgrass county who for a variety of reasons left Ireland to make a life in the industrial cities of Britain.  One such person was Sarah Allen, formerly Sarah Bolger, born in what she described to me as ‘an old house’ off Meeting Lane, Athy in 1932.  Her father was Stephen Bolger who worked as a canal boatman towards the latter part of his working life and who was married to Nora Lawler of Ardreigh.  Nora’s father, John Lawler, was one of the many local men who fought and died in the First World War.  He was a reservist in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers having served in South Africa during the Boer War.  He is one of six World War I soldiers who died during that war and are buried in St. Michael’s cemetery, Athy.

 

Sarah Allen, who has lived in Manchester for many years, has fond memories of youthful days spent in Athy.  She recalls picking mushrooms with her mother in Hendy’s field at Ardreigh and being carried in her mother’s arms to see her father while he was working on the sewerage scheme under construction for the houses at Rathstewart.  Sadly her mother died when Sarah was five years old, after which she went to live with her grandmother Lizzie Lawler in Ardreigh. 

 

Sarah, whom I met earlier in the summer when she returned to Athy for her step brother’s birthday celebration, spoke to me of Athy’s past and her abiding memories of bygone years.  Her memories and those of older generations of Athy folk, whether or not now living in Athy, are the stuff of local history.  Their recounted lives and the attendant folk stories allow us to view from a distance the life and lore of past generations which hugely differ from that of the present.

 

Sarah spent one season working in the local pea factory in Rathstewart before leaving at 15 years of age for London.  She was met by her aunt at Euston Station and after a short while got work as a chamber maid in the Royal Hotel, Russel Square.  There she remained for two years, earning 22 shilling per week all found.  Even then Sarah’s sense of responsibility and duty saw her sending home £1 per week to her father who was then out of work.  It was a pattern repeated by so many Irish men and women working and living in England during that post war period.  Lack of employment opportunities in Ireland separated families, while the Irish emigrants of London, Manchester and other industrial centres of Great Britain forged an uneasy and sometimes unwelcoming relationship with the war-torn communities on the British mainland. 

 

Sarah endowed with a social conscience and marked with an admirable sense of responsibility paid a prominent role amongst the Irish community in Manchester for many years.  The Kildare Men’s Association and the Irish Centre in Manchester were but two of the many organisations with which Sarah was associated with over the years.  Now at 85 years of age Sarah has retired from voluntary community work and has time to think back on her life which started in Garden Lane, off Meeting Lane, Athy, extended over some years in Ardreigh before her life experiences were strengthened in the cosmopolitan cities of London and Manchester.

 

Sarah has proved herself as one of Athy’s finest, bringing as she did to her voluntary work in Manchester the cheerfulness, kindness and wisdom of a girl who first saw the light of day in the town of Athy in the south of Co. Kildare.

 

Last week marked the 50^th anniversary of the death of trade unionist and social activist Christy Supple and his anniversary mass in St. Michael’s Parish Church was attended by his sons Joe and Tommy.  I have written previously of Christy and his involvement in the agricultural labourers strike of the early 1920s.  Christy encouraged by William O’Brien of the Dublin based Transport Union, set out early in 1918 to unionise the workers of south Kildare.  The agricultural workers strike of 1922/’23 was an acrimonious affair and attacks on property resulted in Free State troops having to be billeted in the Town Hall, Athy for 8 months from March 1923.  Christy was himself arrested in January of that year and held in Carlow prison for several months.  In 1925 he was elected as a member of Athy Urban District Council, but like so many other men and women had to emigrate to England in later years where he died in November 1967, aged 69 years.

 

Christy Supple’s story is one of courage and commitment to the workers cause but his role in the defence of the agricultural labourers strike of south Kildare is a story which has yet to be written and remembered in his native town.

Moira Finnegan

Athy was the place to be on Monday of last week.  The Taoiseach was in town to open Martin Heydon’s constituency office in Leinster Street and later met some local people in the Clanard Court Hotel.  On the same day President Michael D. Higgins was on a private visit to Athy, while the assistant Garda Commissioner Fintan Fanning was carrying out his annual inspection at the local Garda Station.

 

The Taoiseach’s visit was undoubtedly a boost for the local Fine Gael party members and it must be acknowledged was also a very welcome visit to Athy by the country’s most important political figure.  In addressing those assembled in the local hotel the Taoiseach acknowledged the urgent need for progressing the outer relief road for which planning permission issued recently.  In recounting his own personal experiences of driving through Athy in the past the Taoiseach reassured his listeners, if such reassurance was needed, that the forty year old saga of Athy’s relief road will soon be at an end.  The cost of building the road will not, according to the Taoiseach, be an issue and everything now depends on how quickly Kildare County Council and the National Road Authority push ahead with the project. 

 

During the course of his address the Taoiseach paid a special tribute to Moira Finnegan, a staunch Fine Gael member for many years, whom I am told held at one time or another every officer position in the local branch of the party.  Due to her sterling work and those of her colleagues, the party flag was kept afloat in this part of the Kildare constituency during many years of Fianna Fail dominance in government.

 

Moira, who is a native of Mullinalaghta, Co. Longford came to Athy in 1972 to teach in the local Vocational school.  Tom O’Donnell was the headmaster in those days and he must have been particularly impressed by the young girl who, as a former CIE official working in Galway, transferred to Dublin so that she could graduate with a university degree.  Moira, like myself, attended university at night-time, both of us graduating from UCD, Moira with a B.A., yours truly with a Commerce Degree.  Daytime university attendance for our generation was very much limited to the well off and the professional classes so Moira’s attendance at evening classes after a days work was a clear indication of the drive and initiative which was regularly featured in her later role as a branch officer of the Fine Gael party.  Moira, who retired from her teacher’s position in Athy Community College ten years ago after 35 years as an Irish, English and Economics teacher, has now retired to live in her native County Longford. 

 

I was intrigued to find that her native place, Mullinalaghta is in the Lough Gowna Valley just up the road from my late father’s homeplace of Legga.  Both Mullinalaghta and Legga are not too far from Ballinalee and Granard, two places forever identified with the Irish War of Independence.  Not only with that War but also the subsequent Civil War and it is no coincidence that two of the men who figured largely on the Treaty side of that conflict are forever associated with County Longford.  Michael Collins’ fiancée Kitty Kirwan was a native of Granard, while the blacksmith of Ballinalee Seán Mac Eoin was, as the name indicates, a native of the Longford village of Ballinalee.  Both men, as advocates of the Treaty of 1922, were part of the movement which in time gave us Cumann na nGaedheal and the Fine Gael party.  The current Taoiseach’s kind remarks concerning Moira’s long involvement with the Fine Gael party were received with applause and her many friends in Athy wish her well on her retirement back in her native County Longford.

 

On the day before Athy played host to so many august visitors the members of St. Michael’s branch of O.N.E. played a significant part in the Remembrance Sunday ceremony held in St. Michael’s cemetery.  There, a colour party consisting of O.N.E. members, paraded prior to a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial to Athy men who died in war.  The prayer service which took place before, during and at the end of the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony, was conducted by Rev. Olive Donohoe, the local Church of Ireland rector.  Thanks must go to the O.N.E. members, Rev. Olive and all those in attendance for keeping alive the town of Athy’s remembrance of the young men from this area who died during the 1914/’18 war.  It is particularly important that Athy folk do not forget that ‘lost generation’ because it was the town’s leaders and church leaders of the day who actively encouraged the largely unemployed young men of Athy and district to enlist during the course of that war.

 

Sunday also witnessed the Lions Cycle Rally with cyclists young and old setting off at 10 a.m. from Geraldine Park.  They followed a 24km route through Ballyroe, stopping at Kilkea Castle for refreshments before continuing the journey back to Athy’s GAA Club.  Well done to everyone involved.         

Ernest Shackleton meets G.B. Shaw and Harry Lauder

Part of the joy in researching and writing local history is making connections between people and places.  The re-imagining and re-assessment of historical figures is an important part of this process.  The Royal Irish Academy has been prominent in publishing new studies of major historical figures such as Eamon de Valera and its most recent publication, authored by Fintan O’Toole, ‘Judging Shaw’.  This an interesting book which the author regards as a re-introduction to George Bernard Shaw.  He states that Shaw, as a contemporary figure, has much more in common with musicians such as Bob Dylan and David Bowie than with the great Victorians, William Gladstone or Anthony Trollope.  He observes that Bob Dylan in 2016 became the first artist since Bernard Shaw to achieve the unique distinction of receiving both an Oscar and a Nobel prize.  Neither Athy nor Kildare can make any claims to associations with Shaw.  Carlow town has that honour with the generous bequests made by the Shaw family over the last century, the shining light of which is that great cultural treasure, the Visual Centre for Contemporary Arts Centre and the George Bernard Shaw Theatre built in the grounds of St. Patrick’s College in Carlow.

 

I was however intrigued to come across a reference to a meeting between George Bernard Shaw and the Kilkea-born explorer, Ernest Shackleton.  After Shackleton’s death in 1922 his brother-in-law, Charles Sarolea published in the Journal, ‘The Contemporary Review’ an article titled ‘Sir Ernest Shackleton a Study in personality’.  Sarolea was a Professor of French in Edinburgh University and was also married to Julia Dorman, Shackleton’s sister-in-law.  Sarolea describes a lunch date shared with Bernard Shaw and Shackleton where he observed two men who had much in common.  Both had a quick and ready wit and though in their temperament and outlook in life they were different both were Irishmen who had established their reputations after leaving these shores.  The lunch was marked by a continuous flow of stories and quips between the men which Sarolea described as a ‘continuous firework of story and anecdotes.’

 

Another great figure of that time was Sir Harry Lauder, the famous music hall singer and comedian.  His was a name and a voice that would resonate with my late father’s generation and he enjoyed an extraordinary long career from the end of the Victorian age right into the 1930's. 

 

It is not clear when Harry Lauder first ran into Ernest Shackleton, but certainly by 1909 when Shackleton had returned from the Antarctic they appeared to be moving in the same social circles.  At a dinner hosted by a wealthy friend of Shackleton's, Lauder performed a series of songs.  It was a lavish affair whereby the table was transformed into a picture of the Antarctic, with artificial snow and real ice, where a large model of Shackleton’s ship ‘Nimrod’ was placed at the edge of an ice barrier thickly populated by penguins with menu cards specially created by the artist, George Marston.

 

Lauder would go on to celebrate this friendship by releasing a song called ‘The Bounding Bounder’ or 'On the Bounding Sea' in late 1910 which was a comic tale of a joint expedition to the Antarctic involving Harry Lauder and Ernest Shackleton as regaled by Lauder.  The recording was released on an Edison wax cylinder and such was the success that it was later released on a 78 record and was still available for sale as late as 1921.  It appears that Lauder and Shackleton’s paths frequently crossed and an article in the Cork Examiner of 17^th December 1912 reported that both men were embarking upon the Lusitania sailing from Cobh to the United States.  Shackleton was heading to America on private business with the intention of delivering lectures about his Nimrod expedition, while Lauder had just completed a series of engagements in London and was to begin a tour of the United States for nine weeks, of mostly major cities such as New York and Chicago.

 

When the Great War broke out in 1914 it would find Shackleton in the Antarctic again on the ship ‘Endurance’, while Lauder was touring Australia.  The war brought great sadness on Lauder’s family, with the loss of his only child, his son John, killed in action while serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on the Somme in 1916.  Lauder spent much of the war years in organising concerts and fundraising appeals, particularly for the charity he established, the Harry Lauder Million Pound Fund for injured Scottish soldiers and sailors for which he received a knighthood in 1919.  The death of his son also inspired the writing of the song called ‘The End of the Road’. 

 

Shackleton would find an early death on his expedition to the Antarctic in January ’22, while Lauder would live until February 1950 only fully retiring after World War II during which he made a number of broadcasts with the BBC.

Parish Priests of St. Michael's Parish

The light reflected in the window of the parochial house in Stanhope Place which I noticed earlier in the week had all the significance of a beacon of revival.  Sadly the parochial house, once one of the focal points for the parish of St. Michael’s, had been unoccupied in recent years while the Parish Priest who also had responsibility for Narraghmore and Moone parishes, resided in the rural tranquillity of Crookstown.  Our new Parish Priest has now occupied the early 19^th century stone fronted parochial house and by this very act has reaffirmed the importance of the Parish Priest living amongst the people he serves.  This is not to say that the parishioners of Narraghmore and Moone. deserve any less consideration but in terms of population numbers the parish of St. Michael’s must be seen as the first amongst equals in this part of the diocese. 

 

The parish of St. Michael’s was established I am told in 1670 and the only extant records relating to the priests in the parish record Fr. John Fitzsimons who was ordained a priest in 1673 at 23 years of age.  He had the distinction of being ordained by the then Archbishop of Dublin Oliver Plunkett and was appointed Parish Priest of St. Michael’s 24 years later.  It is interesting to note that his designation as Parish Priest referred to St. Michael’s, St. John’s, Churchtown, Kilberry and Nicholastown.  He was shown in government records as residing in Athy in 1704.

 

The next recorded Parish Priest was Fr. Daniel Fitzpatrick who was in charge of the parish in 1744 while living over the border in Queens County [now County Laois].  Fr. James Neill or  Nele, was Parish Priest of St. Michael’s from 1771 until his death on 28^th October 1789.  Fr. Maurice Keegan was a curate in Athy for 7 years from 1780 and transferred to nearby Castledermot as Parish Priest where he remained until 1789.  He returned that year to St. Michael’s as the Parish Priest and served in that capacity until 26th October 1825.  It was during his stewardship of the parish that the Parish Church, then located in Chapel Lane, was torched and burned to the ground.  It happened on the night of 7^th March, 1800 and was one of a number of Catholic churches in this area and throughout Ireland which were similarly burned out following the 1798 Rebellion.  Fr. Fitzpatrick lodged a claim for compensation with the Dublin Castle authorities and those proceeds and presumably further local funding financed the building of St. Michael’s Church, familiar to older residents of the parish which was demolished in 1960.

 

Following Fr. Fitzpatrick’s death in 1825 I have counted 18 Parish Priests who succeeded him, including the recently appointed Fr. Liam Rigney.  Amongst them was Fr. Andrew Quinn who was Parish Priest from 1853-1879.  A native of Eadestown, Naas, his brothers were Bishop James Quinn of Brisbane and Bishop Matthew Quinn of Bathurst.  Two other Parish Priests who in my young days were remembered in Athy were Canon James Germaine who presided over the parish for 13 years up to 1905.  Canon Mackey was another well remembered holder of the office from 1909-1928.  Both died in office and both are buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery.

 

Canon Patrick McDonnell, after whom McDonnell Drive was named, was Parish Priest from 1928-1956.  He was the old-style leader of his parish who to a youngster like me attending confessions in the early 1950s was a cross, contrary individual who was unable to deal kindly with the awkward silences of a dumb struck youngster.  My tale of woe has been told in a previous Eye, however now that I am approaching Canon McDonnell’s age I can understand and forgive him.

 

Amongst the Parish Priests of the past we have had a number of priests with interesting backgrounds.  Canon Owen Sweeney, who was a dynamic Parish Priest for 5 years from 1980, was the former president of Clonliffe College.  Fr. Gerard Tanham, Parish Priest from 2010, was director of the Dublin Institute of Adult Education for 10 years from 1981.  Both left their mark on the parish of St. Michael’s and are remembered with great fondness. 

 

In any lookback at the Parish Priests of our parish it would be remiss of me not to mention Fr. Philip Dennehy who first came to Athy as a curate in 1963.  He served for 10 years before returning as a Parish Priest in 1985, retiring 21 years later.  Now aged 86 years he remains in the parish as Parish Priest Emeritus, a much-loved pastor who has devoted the majority of his ordained life to the parishioners of the Parish of St. Michael’s.

 

The parish has gone through difficult times since the departure of Monsignor John Wilson in 2009 and the widening of the pastoral responsibility of the Parish Priest for the outlying parishes has increased the difficulties facing the present incumbent.  His decision to occupy the Parochial House in Stanhope Place goes a long way to reassuring his parishioners that the regeneration of St. Michael’s parish as a relevant and important part of community life in the area can be expected. 

Tim Harward / Eddie Wall

The English and the Irish nations have had an uneasy relationship for centuries but mercifully the appalling ‘No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs’ boarding house notices of a few decades past are no more.  However, the partnership which could and should mark the relationship between neighbouring islands is held back by politicians and historical baggage foisted on us as a result of the Boundary Commission of 1924. 

 

My thoughts on the otherwise amicable relationship between the people of Great Britain and ourselves were prompted by my visit last week for a funeral in West Sussex.  I have been a frequent visitor across the Irish Sea and I have always been impressed by the pleasant and courteous manner in which the English and Welsh people meet and greet the Irish.  Everywhere one goes on the British mainland there is evidence of Irish connections.  I was attending a funeral service in St. Andrew’s Church, Bishopstone, a small church dating from Saxon times with 12^th century Norman additions.  The Church of England service was an engaging reminder of the ever-slight differences in the services in our own St. Michael’s Church.  The Minister in charge was a Sligo man, now retired from his own parish and acting as priest in charge of the church where miniature sized Stations of the Cross and candlesticks spoke of a High Church following, or as the Rev. Minister later put it to me ‘High Churchish’.

 

I was there to honour the memory of my daughter’s father-in-law who passed away recently.  Tim Harward, born in Madras, India where his father was an army Colonel was educated in England and attended Trinity College Dublin in the 1950s.  His was an interesting life which saw him work for a time as a theatre critic for the Times, and after service with the 2^nd Gurka Rifles in Malaya he worked for several years as an archaeologist in Nepal.  I was particularly interested to find that his first book was published in 1964 by Liam Miller’s Dolmen Press and his most recent book on pillar stones in west Nepal was published in Central Malaya 48 years later. 

 

Tim Harward’s connection with Ireland reflected in reverse the links which many Irish men and women have with Great Britain.  There are very few Irish families who do not have a family member working or living in retirement on the British mainland.  Once such was my friend Eddie Wall who was born in Ardreigh and like me went to school in the local Christian Brothers.  Shortly after the funeral service in Bishopstone I received a text from Eddie’s daughter, Helen Hives, telling me that her father had died some days previously.  Eddie left school at an early age to work in Andersons and Conroys pubs.  He subsequently emigrated to England where he married Evelyn Barrett from Belmullet, county Mayo and it was in Luton that they reared their family. 

 

Eddie had a great love for his native place which he never lost, despite the many years he spent in England.  He was delighted to attend the 40th school reunion organised in September 2002 where he renewed acquaintances with men whose faces and ages had changed enormously since last seen as young boys in the Christian Brothers.  Eddie kept in touch with me for a number of years after that and I was very saddened to hear of his passing.

 

The connections between Eddie’s country of birth and the land where his remains will now lie are so many and so varied it is impossible to untangle the two.  Even on my short trip last week I met and talked to several strangers, all elderly, many still conversing with the soft lilt of an Irish brogue which they brought with them so many years ago from Ireland.  You cannot travel anywhere in England or Wales without meeting an Irish exile who has made his or her home there.  The Irish exile has proved to be a trustworthy, hardworking and genial person, becoming in time an integral part of the local community overseas.

 

Tim Harward and Eddie Wall came from entirely different backgrounds but somehow their lives enshrined, for me at least, an understanding of those transferable qualities which allow the English and the Irish to live in harmony.  How I wish those qualities could be utilised to solve the difficulties which still mark relationships on the island of Ireland and which have their origin in the shambolic political settlement of almost 100 years ago.

 

[I wrote the above lines on Thursday morning and later that afternoon I received a telephone call to say that Tim Harward’s wife Paula, who had spoken so eloquently at his funeral service a few days previously, had tragically died following a road traffic accident earlier in the day.]

                                   

Jimmy Kelly and Paddence Murphy

The recent death of Jimmy Kelly of Chanterlands marked another milestone in the passage of time and the reactivation of memories first gathered during youthful days in Offaly Street. Jimmy was the second son of County Mayo born Garda James Kelly and his Kerry born wife Marie. He was a child of the early 1930s who spent his entire working life in Athy. No more than myself his attachment to the south Kildare town was the result of his father’s transfer to Athy early in his Garda career. For Jimmy his schooling in the local Christian Brothers school and the strong work ethic which he displayed throughout his adult working life were the foundations of his honourable approach to life. He had huge regard and respect for his workmates in the Wallboard factory where he worked during the entire period of that factory’s existence. He shared in the disappointment of his colleagues when the innovative industrial venture first mooted in the pre-World War two years closed down in 1977. The Wallboard company was formed in 1939 but due to the outbreak of World War two the machinery needed to open the factory could not be imported. The factory finally opened in April 1949 only to close 28 years later. Jimmy had treasured memories of his Wallboard colleagues and was always anxious for their role in the industrial life of Athy to be recorded. He knew Athy and his own generation with a knowledge which generously interposed reality and myth and gave to his memories of times past a feeling of nostalgia which we all share. In truth life in Athy of the 1940s and the 1950s was difficult for many families. However, as we look back with the passage of time those difficulties once experienced in youth are sidelined and give way to recollections of happier times. Jimmy was a man who over the years shared many memories with me, but always on the understanding that his name was never to be mentioned. Not that those memories were anything but good and complimentary of the persons and events mentioned. For Jimmy never sought the limelight and would never countenance his name being interposed in the accounts which I frequently wrote about after another friendly chat with the man from Offaly Street. That was the street where the Kellys, the Moores, the Whites, the Websters, the Cashs and the Taaffes of my generation were reared. Jimmy was of an older group of sons who were already part of the local employment force when we younger ones were still playing cowboys and indians in the People’s Park. Paddens Murphy, another Offaly Street man, was of that older generation and in the week that Jimmy Kelly died Paddens Murphy and his colleagues in the Sorrento dance band were honoured with the unveiling of a plaque on the Town Hall. I was in England for the past while and missed Jimmy’s funeral and the plaque unveiling ceremony. I would certainly have liked to have been present for both to mark my respect for the two former residents of Offaly Street. I found it strange to read of the Sorrento band being described as a showband. In the 1940s and the 1950s the musical combinations of the time were either orchestras or bands and even though the Sorrento under Paddens Murphy opened Dreamland with Victor Sylvester, I believe it was always known as Paddens Murphy’s Sorrento dance band. I had hoped that the plaque would be put on the wall of what remains of the Murphy’s house at No. 24 Offaly Street. That for an Offaly Street fellow would I felt be the most appropriate place for such an honour. However, the unveiling of the plaque to the Sorrento band was a remarkable tribute, not just to Paddens Murphy but also to the many local musicians who over the years were part of the Sorrento story. A week in which my old street lost one of its old boys and also saw another old boy honoured is a week tinged with sadness and pride. Memories of times past gives all of us an opportunity to reflect on the passing years and to understand and appreciate the people whose lives touched ours. Jimmy Kelly and Paddens Murphy were part of that past as was Mrs. Maureen Rigney who died within the last week. My sympathies go to the families of Jimmy Kelly and Mrs. Rigney and my regrets to the extended family of Paddens Murphy for missing what was a great occasion and the opportunity to meet old neighbours when they attended the plaque unveiling ceremony at the Town Hall last week.

The Tithe Wars of the 1830s

Many of us have been transfixed by the machinations of the Westminster Parliament in London since the Brexit vote. There has been a sense, until very recently, that the public at large had lost interest in parliamentary politics but the daily dissection of parliamentary matters across the water is proof that this is not the case. Kildare and particularly Athy occupied a prominent place in the thoughts and actions of the legislators in Westminster in the 1830’s with the upheaval triggered by the outbreak of the Tithe wars of the 1830’s. It is mostly forgotten today, bookended as it was by Daniel O’Connell’s emancipation campaigns of the 1820’s and the Great Famine of the 1840’s. None the less it was a period of significant civil discord and dissent in Ireland and Athy. The Tithes were a form of tax levied on the population to maintain protestant churches. The taxes were applied to the population whether they were members of the church or not, therefore the Catholic peasantry and the members of the Presbyterian community were also liable for the tax. The war or campaign against Tithes was triggered by the actions of Fr. Martin Doyle, the Parish Priest of Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny, the cousin of Bishop Doyle of Kildare and Leighlin when Fr. Doyle refused to pay Tithes on a 40-acre farm which he had in addition to his parochial house. Thereafter the campaign spread rapidly through the country. By 1833 the matter was of such concern that it received considerable attention in the House of Commons. The chief secretary of Ireland E.G. Stanley delivered a substantial speech to the house on February 27th, 1833 where he detailed what he described as the ‘outrages’ in Kildare. The purpose of the speech was to support his promotion of the Disturbances (Ireland) bill which was in his words “for the repression of violence and disturbance, for the protection of life and property and for the maintenance of order”, he described its adoption as “a most imperious and pressing necessity”. Speaking of Athy he referred to reports received from the Chief Constable of the Irish Constabulary. He noted that on the night of the 15th of January 1833 that the house of William Batt, a retired naval officer living at Bray, Athy was entered by several men who robbed Batt of a case of pistols, a fowling piece and some ball cartridges. The house of a Dr. Carter of Castledermot was burnt on the 25th of January, while an armed party went to the house of a farmer called Kelly near Kildangan and demanded the surrender of his arms. Kelly refused, the armed party opened fire and Kelly returned fire wounding one of his assailants in the face. Stanley went on to refer to a letter he had received from a correspondent from Athy in February 1833. This correspondent advised him that members of juries at the last Court sittings had been obliged to carry firearms for their personal protection while attending the courts and that magistrates had been unable to get providers of coaches, caravans or conveyances locally to bring witnesses to court. They had been threatened that their carriages would be broken up if they facilitated the court sittings. Thereafter the Court officials were obliged to order carriages from Dublin to bring witnesses to the Court in Athy. Previously Mr. M. Singleton, a magistrate sitting in Athy, writing from the town on the 23rd of September 1832 informed Stanley of his difficulty in getting a witness to give evidence in relation to an attack on a farmer’s house in Athy. The witness, from Kilkenny, refused to give evidence for fear of the consequences of his actions. Singleton committed him to Carlow jail for his contempt of Court. When next brought before the Court the witness said that he would only give evidence if he could get the approval of his priest. After the intervention of the clergymen the witness was more forthcoming, and the ultimate culprit was committed for trial in Portlaoise later that year. Stanley’s bill was ultimately passed but the Tithe war rumbled on until the late 1830’s and only petered out when responsibility for payment passed to the landlord and not the tenant. Stanley, later to become Earl Derby, would go on to become Prime Minster on three separate occasions. His contribution to Irish affairs is probably better and more positively remembered by reference to “the Stanley letter”. In writing, in 1831, to the 3rd Duke of Leinster he set out the governments proposals to establish the legal basis for national schools in Ireland. The letter was an important stepping point for the establishment of the national schools’ system which remains the basis for primary education in this country to this day.

Barrowhouse 16th May 1921

‘On Thursday 19th May 1921 the final phase of the Barrowhouse tragedy was completed when the bodies of two young men, Lacey and Connor, were interred at Barrowhouse graveyard.’ So reported the Leinster Leader a week after the Barrowhouse ambush on Monday 16th May. A subsequent military Court of Enquiry was held in Ballylinan into the deaths of James Lacey and William Connor. The evidence adduced at the enquiry showed that an R.I.C. cycle patrol, consisting of a sergeant and four men, were ambushed at Shanganamore. The patrol consisted of Sergeant John McHale, Constables Grey, Denis Griffin, James Keane and another unidentified constable. The police were cycling in single file when the sergeant saw a man with a gun in his hand running across a field towards a ditch near the road. Sergeant McHale shouted a warning to the patrol to take cover. While they were doing so a volley of shots rang out and one of the constables fell to the ground wounded. The policemen returned fire. After about an hour the attackers withdrew (subsequent reports indicated that the exchange of fire lasted for 10 or 15 minutes). Following a search the R.I.C. found a body lying in the ditch with a shotgun still held in the hand. This was the body of James Lacey in whose pockets ammunition was also found. The enquiry was told that the R.I.C. then withdrew to Athy, returning later with reinforcements. Another search of the ambush scene lead to the discovery of a second body, as well as several shotguns and some ammunition. The Court of Enquiry found that James Lacey and William Connor died from bullet wounds inflicted by crown forces in the execution of their duty. The local newspapers when reporting the incident noted that when news of the ambush reached Athy the streets cleared quickly and were empty before curfew hour. The curfew in force from 10pm to 5am was changed to commence at 9pm following the Barrowhouse ambush. Reprisals by crown forces following I.R.A. activity was a common feature of the War of Independence. Houses in the Barrowhouse area were raided by crown forces following the ambush. Patrick Lynch, a carpenter by trade who lived near the ambush site, subsequently prepared a statement of the R.I.C. raid on his house which culminated in the burning of his home and his workshop. Lynch was first approached by constable Bagley and an unidentified sergeant who questioned him about his involvement with the I.R.A. Lynch had not been involved in the ambush but after being questioned Constable Bagley said to him: ‘it’s only ten chances to one that you will be burned out tonight Lynch’. The R.I.C. search of Lynch’s house left the house contents in disarray and Lynch reported how one man wearing a dark waterproof coat threatened him with a revolver saying, ‘you thought to shoot me up the road today’. However, Constable Denis Griffin intervened and told Lynch, ‘I won’t let him shoot you.’ The following morning at 2am a threshing machine, 40 tons of hay and 20 tons of straw belonging to Martin Lyons were destroyed in an act of reprisal by the crown forces. Patrick Lynch’s home and workshop were burned to the ground, while Mary Malone’s house was also destroyed. On the 3rd of July the house which Constable Griffin rented from Mrs. Hickey at Ballylinan crossroads was burned to the ground. Local newspapers reported how a party of masked men entered at night-time the house occupied by Mrs. Griffin and her children while her husband was away. The I.R.A. burned the house with all its contents. Two days later Constable Griffin was shot and seriously injured when ambushed by a number of men as he cycled from his lodgings to the R.I.C. Barracks in Mountmellick. He was severely wounded in the left groin and was subsequently declared unfit for service in the R.I.C. He would receive the constabulary medal in July 1921 as did Constable James Kane, while Sergeant McHale and Constable Edward Gray were awarded the third-class favourable record for their involvement in the Barrowhouse ambush. The day after the Barrowhouse ambush Constable Martin Doran, formally of Cardenton, Athy was shot and killed in Kinnity, Co. Offaly. A 24 year old single man Doran had joined the R.I.C. three years previously. The R.I.C. barracks in Athy was attacked by the I.R.A. six days after the Barrowhouse ambush. The attack started at about 11pm and lasted for about thirty minutes. There were no casualties. Three days after the ambush Fr. J. Nolan C.C. Athy, assisted by Canon Mackey, P.P. Athy and six other priests celebrated High Mass in Barrowhouse church for James Lacey and William Connor. There was a large congregation in attendance and at the end of the Mass I.R.A. volunteers carried the coffins to the nearby graveyard. The two coffins were placed in the same grave. The last post was sounded by a volunteer and three volleys were fired over the grave. The ambush site at Barrowhouse is today marked by a simple memorial.

Niamh Boyle's new book 'Her Kind'

The highly anticipated second novel from Niamh Boyce, the author of ‘The Herbalist’ will be launched in Athy Library on the 12th April at 7.00 p.m. Published by Penguin books ‘Her Kind’ is an escape into to the imagined events leading to the Alice Kytler witch trials of the 14th century. This will be Niamh’s second historical novel and follows the success she secured with ‘The Herbalist’. That novel was based on the Athy story of the 1940’s involving the infamous Doctor Roderick De Vere, a one-time resident of Beggars End. His story and subsequent trial provided Niamh with the opportunity which every historical novelist desires of exercising freedom to reimagine the past. She did so with aplomb producing a first novel which attracted and pleased a large readership. Now with her second novel, Niamh, a history graduate of University College Galway, returns to a dramatic event in Irish social history. With her new novel she follows in the footsteps of those Irish writers who are particularly noted for the excellence of their historical novels. That list is top heavy with male writers, the most noteworthy being George A. Birmingham and Francis McManus. Birmingham published a number of political novels starting with the ‘Seething Pot’ and continued with ‘The Red Hand of Ulster’, finishing with ‘Up the Rebels’ in 1919. The author’s name was the pseudonym of Church of Ireland canon, James Owen Hannay who for a time was rector in nearby Carnalway, Kilcullen. Francis McManus published a highly regarded historical trilogy in the 1930s which dealt with 18th century Irish peasant life. ‘Stand for Challenge’, ‘Candle for the Proud’ and ‘Men Withering’ still remain firm favourites with readers today. Another name amongst the leading Irish historical novelists is that of Eilis Dillon whose best selling ‘Across the Bitter Sea’ published in 1973 is an impressive historical romance set against the background of the Easter Rebellion. The Kilkenny witch trials of Alice Kytler, which is the centre of Niamh’s new book, brings to mind another famous Kilkenny based historical novel. Thomas Kilroy’s ‘The Big Chapel’ which told the story of the Callan Parish Priest’s dispute in the 1870s with the Catholic Church authorities won many awards when it was published in 1971. The Athy Kilkenny connection is further enhanced by the historical research which was carried out by Niamh which shows that the letter from the Bishop of Ossory to the Justiciar of Ireland accusing Alice Kytler and others of witchcraft was written in, and dispatched from the town of Athy. It is often claimed that there is a book in everyone. But of course few get the inspiration, the time or indeed the courage perhaps to put pen to paper. How did the eldest daughter of my good friends Frank and Ann Boyce come to achieve such success in a relatively short time. Another local and very successful writer, John MacKenna. played a big part in helping to channel the writing talents of the young Niamh Boyce. John’s writers’ classes attended by Niamh encouraged her to write short stories. Her first published piece was a short story ‘Wild Cat Buffet’ which appeared in the Crannog magazine eleven years ago. Niamh’s work has appeared since then in several magazines including Poetry Ireland. Inclusion in that later publication followed her success in winning a Hennessy award in 2012 for her poem ‘Kitty’. I was surprised to hear Niamh declare that despite her success as a novelist, she is happiest when writing poetry. It reminded me that the pen of Thomas Hardy in his later years was devoted exclusively to poetry after a hugely successful novel writing career. Niamh last year published a book of poetry ‘Inside the Wolf’ and her new novel published by Penguin marks a further progress in her development as a writer. The launch takes place in Athy’s new library on Friday, 12th April at 7.00 p.m. An invitation is extended to readers far and wide to attend the launch. Another cultural event worthy of note is the scheduled performance of John MacKenna’s one man play, ‘The Mental’, premiered last year which is to be performed in the Woodbine Bookshop in Kilcullen on the 2nd May. John’s theatrical company, Mend and Makedo, will also stage ‘Between your Love and Mine’, a requiem by Leonard Cohen in the National Concert Hall, Dublin on the 21st September, coincidentally the date of what would have been Cohen’s 85th birthday. The show featuring a cast of eighteen, all from Athy or Carlow will be staged in Carlow, Athy and other venues during the year. The book launch in Athy’s library on Friday 12th April promises to be a further important step for a local writer who on the strength of her published work has become an integral part of the Irish literary scene.

Peadar Dooley footballer and Mary Carbery

Playing football was the abiding passion of young fellows living in Athy in the pre television days of the 1950s. Street leagues fanned our enthusiasm for the sport which was further encouraged by the weekly break from school on Wednesday afternoons to participate in football practice in Geraldine Park. Gaelic football was the only game encouraged or indeed allowed during our Christian Brothers school days, but truth to tell it was the only game most of us aspired to play. Soccer and rugby were not part of our youthful horizons. The national newspapers carried reports of major G.A.A. games, while the local papers, the Nationalist and Leinster Times and the Leinster Leader occasionally listed the members of school teams. It was in those local newspapers that many of our names were first mentioned and how important we felt to see our young names in print. The 1950s was a difficult time jobwise for young men leaving the local schools. Many of those I went to school with in the national school had to emigrate to find employment. Emigration was something our country folk experienced for centuries but the establishment of the Irish Free Sate coming fast on the heels of the Civil War saw many young men leave Ireland. With their departure G.A.A. clubs and teams suffered and similar losses continued apace throughout the war years and into the 1950s and the 1960s. I was reminded of the past loss of young Irish men to their country and to their clubs when news arrived of the death of Peadar Dooley, formerly of St. Michael’s Terrace. Peadar was one of the many good footballers to grace Gaelic football during the 1950s. He was a member of the Castlemitchell intermediate team which won the Intermediate championship final of 1953. His team mates included Ned Conway and five members of the legendary Donnelly brothers. It was a team which brought the first championship silverware to the Castlemitchell club. Peadar Dooley and Ned Conway, no doubt on the strength of the Castlemitchell club’s success in the Intermediate championship and the club’s subsequent elevation to the senior ranks, became members of the County Kildare senior panel. Both Peadar and Ned played their first game for the county on 28th February 1954 in a match against Waterford played in Kildare Town. Peadar’s senior football county career continued until April 1955. He played his last game for County Kildare when togging out against Cork in a match played in the nation’s second capital. He emigrated to England soon afterwards following his teammate, Ned Conway, who had earlier taken the emigrant boat. Peadar would later return to Ireland to play in a football match as a member of a London team. It would be his last time to play football in his native country. Peadar Dooley was a member of a select group of Gaelic footballers from Athy who were privileged to play for their county. Peadar who played in the fullback line, sometimes as a corner back, occasionally as full back, was replaced in that latter position by another Athy man and former Castlemitchell player, Danny Flood. Danny would go on to have a long and illustrious career with Kildare winning a Leinster senior championship medal with the county in 1956. Peadar was one of the foursome with Jimmy Curtis, Ned Conway Mossy Reilly, all members of Castlemitchell Football Club who in a junior match against Dublin were, I believe, the first Castlemitchell players to play in Croke Park. Peadar, Ned, Danny and other Athy men including Mick Carolan, Jimmy Curtis and Brendan Kehoe, to name just a few, were part of the pantheon of local sporting heroes of the 1950s and later. They achieved sporting success on the field of play and secured the admiration of those of us who played football but who could never hope to emulate their achievements. Another death during the week was that of Mary Carbery whose husband Jerry shared a classroom with me for several years while we both attended the Christian Brothers school in St. John’s Lane. The large attendance at the funeral in St. Michael’s Parish Church spoke volumes for the esteem in which Mary was held and the respect we all hold for Jerry and the Carbery family members. Mary’s daughter, Mary Lys, spoke eloquently at the funeral mass and recalled her mother’s words one Christmas morning as together they prepared Christmas dinner. Those words ‘we are creating memories’ spoke of the wisdom and love of a kind, thoughtful mother. Throughout our lives we create memories, not just for ourselves but also for those with whom we come in contact. Sometimes those memories are short lived but the treasured memories we hold are long lasting. They last a lifetime, as for example, the youthful memories of sporting successes on the football fields of 65 years or more ago. Our sympathies are extended to the families of Peadar Dooley and Mary Carbery.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes to visit Athy's Heritage Centre

Although the statue of Shackleton in Emily Square was only unveiled as recently as 30th August 2016 it has quickly become an accepted part of the streetscape of Athy. This fine piece of art, commissioned by Kildare County Council, and executed by the eminent sculptor Mark Richards has drawn numerous international visitors to the town over the last 2½ years. On Friday 22nd March Athy will welcome a real live explorer to the town. County Kildare Chamber of Commerce are hosting a Health and Wellbeing symposium at the Clanard Court Hotel where the keynote speaker will be Sir Ranulph Fiennes who the Guinness Book Records describes as the world’s greatest living explorer. Fiennes has an extraordinary record of achievement behind him. He was the first person to reach both the North and South poles, cross the Antarctic and the Antarctic oceans and to circumnavigate the world along its polar axis. His 50 years of adventure and exploration will be a feature of his talk at the symposium in Athy. Demand for tickets for the event have been so high that the event has been booked out for a number of weeks. I understand that the event was originally planned to take place elsewhere in the county but Fiennes asked that it should take place in Athy, close to the birth place of Ernest Shackleton. He wanted to pay homage to Shackleton, the world’s greatest explorer by visiting the Shackleton Museum in Athy’s Town Hall and the nearby statue of the Kilkea-born explorer. Fiennes own life encapsulates much of what we know about Shackleton in terms of leadership, team work, determination and most of all self-belief. His book ‘Beyond the Limits – the lessons learned from a lifetime of adventure’ published in 2000 gives an overview of the extraordinary expeditions Fiennes has been involved in since the late 1960s. What is clear from this publication is his willingness to adapt and learn from every new experience and incorporate those into his subsequent expeditions. One of his most challenging experiences was his crossing of the Antarctic by foot with his fellow explorer, Dr. Mike Stroud in 1992-1993 when they together completed the first unsupportive crossing of the Antarctic continent. This is now viewed as the longest unsupported polar journey in history. In summing up the experience he wrote: ‘we had walked over the highest, coldest, most inhospitable continent in earth, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with only the supplies that we carried. Somebody might one day complete the journey faster than we but like Hilary and Tenzing on Everest, we will always retain the rights to priority.’ Many expeditions would follow this experience including a successful summiting of Everest in May 2009 and the completion of the marathon Des Sables regarded as the toughest foot race on earth. But there is something about the crossing of Antarctica which resonates with us here in Athy. It was Shackleton’s own failure to cross the Antarctic in 1914-1916 that led to the epic adventure story centred on the loss of his ship Endurance, and his charismatic leadership which facilitated the escape of Shackleton and his men from icy graves in the Antarctic. In tandem with Fiennes expeditions he has raised millions for charities all over the world and is a prolific and skilled writer. His most recent publication is titled Cold - ‘Extreme adventures at the lowest temperatures on earth’ where he celebrated his life dedicated to researching and exploring some of the most hostile and intensely cold places on earth. No doubt those fortunate enough to have secured tickets for the talk on Friday will enjoy listening to the stories of the adventures of a man very much cast in Shackleton’s mould. The death of Peadar Dooley in London a few days ago marks the loss of a man who graced the county football scene playing for his native county of Kildare and who for many years played with the local Castlemitchell club. The story of the once intense rivalry which marked the relationship between the Athy and the Castlemitchell clubs is a story which has yet to be written, but next week I will return to the story of Peadar Dooley, footballer.

Traffic imporvements in Athy over the years

With preliminary work on the outer relief road now started we can look forward in a few years time to the disappearance of lorries and heavy goods vehicles from Athy’s main shopping streets. Those same streets first laid down in medieval times as passageways for man and beast have witnessed over the centuries the everchanging transport. The linear layout of town’s principal streets stretching from Leinster Street through Duke Street and beyond William Street are typical of what was an Anglo-Norman settlement. Unfortunately, the narrow streets which resulted from the town’s development as a market town are not suitable for modern traffic as large vehicles are driven through streets which should be accommodating shoppers. The outer relief road when built will create the opportunity to make huge improvements to the retailing life of the town. In many ways the new road has the potential to bring change to Athy in much the same way as two earlier major infrastructural developments did in the 1790s and the 1840s. The year 1791 saw the Grand Canal extended to Athy and the new waterway link between Athy and Dublin led to the development of two major industries in the town. The malting stores once dotted around Athy from Offaly Street to Stanhope Street and Shrewleen Lane made Athy one of the most important centres of the malt industry in Ireland. It was an industry which provided much needed employment for the men of Athy, while providing at the same time an enormous financial boost for the farmers of the area. The other local industry which benefitted hugely from the waterway link to Dublin was that of brick making. Before 1791 it was a localised cottage industry, but with the opening of the Dublin market the local brick making industry expanded. It would continue to operate as a substantial employer of local men and women up to the mid-1930s. From the earliest times Athy had a boating tradition with trade between Waterford and the south Kildare town. The opening of the Grand Canal saw the boatmen of the Barrow navigation, many of whom lived locally, engage in the canal freight business between Athy and Dublin. Several local families became canal boat owners and their involvement with the canal extended over several generations and only ended during the post-World War II years. The halcyon days of canal boating were in the pre-railway days when passenger boats and freight boats travelled daily to and from Dublin. That period lasted for less than 60 years but in that time the extension of the canal to Athy brought prosperity to the town never previously experienced. The second major development which brought opportunities for the town folk was the building of the railway line from Dublin to Carlow. It opened on 4th August 1846 during the height of the Great Famine. Its construction provided local men with badly needed employment during that Famine. The railway allowed goods to be brought to and from Dublin much faster than the 13 hours it took by canal boat and as a consequence canal traffic went into decline. The decades immediately after the opening of the railway marked what was possibly the most prosperous years of Athy’s business life. However, in truth the costly railway fares did not find many locals able to take advantage of the third-class open carriages which were first deployed on the Athy Dublin journey. It would take many years before the railway made an impact on the lives of the ordinary folk of Athy, whatever about the benefits it brought to the business people of the town. The advantages created by the opening of the Grand Canal in 1791 were further enhanced by the extension of the railway to Athy in 1846. Both developments brought increased prosperity to the town by virtue of the impetus they gave to the development of industry and the commercial life of Athy. Many believe that the construction of the outer relief road, like its predecessors the canal and railway, can create tremendous opportunities for Athy. If the canal and railway brought industrial and commercial benefits, the outer relief road offers the opportunity to improve the retailing/commercial centre of the town. I understand an Athy Town Team has been established to plan for the town’s future. They can look back at the history of changes for good brought about by the extension of the canal to Athy and the later arrival of the railway to see what can to be done to take maximum benefit from the new road. Retailing Athy is in urgent need of a makeover and the outer relief road offers a unique opportunity to plan for change and improvement.

A walk from Lennons Bridge to Augustus Bridge

I walked on both sides of the Grand Canal between Lennon’s bridge and Augustus bridge last Sunday morning, a journey which I had not previously undertaken. It was a journey of discovery, as I noticed in the distance buildings well known to me but seen for the first time from a different angle. Starting my journey at Augustus bridge erected in 1791 and opened by the Duke of Leinster, the bridge was named after the Duke’s eldest son Augustus who would in time become the third Duke of Leinster. The original bridge was so hump backed that it caused great difficulty for carts travelling to the local market. As a consequence, the bridge was re-modelled in the 1890s and the original bridge keystone which was found a few years ago lying in a ditch in Foxhill is now in the local Heritage Centre. The fine building facing onto the canal harbour was the Canal hotel, built to cater for people travelling by canal boat to Dublin. The passenger service to Dublin in the pre-railway days started out from the Athy harbour at 5 o’clock in the morning and the canal boat reached Dublin after a journey lasting 13 hours. The canal harbour was the scene of an arms robbery early on the morning of 7th December 1797 which was to have serious repercussions for the local people. The night boat from Dublin docked in the harbour with a cargo of arms and ammunition intended for a corps of yeomanry in Leighlinbridge. At about 3 a.m. men armed with pistols and swords raided the canal boat and carried away the arms and ammunition. The boat men who were locals of Athy were suspected of complicity in the robbery and were arrested. Troops from the local military barracks carried out searches in the Athy area but without success. The weapons were never found and in all probability were used by the local United Irishmen during the 1798 rebellion some months later. Beyond the harbour one can see to the right the spire of the Methodist church built in 1872 on a site donated by Alexander Duncan of Fortbarrington House. The proprietor of Duncan’s drapery store in Duke Street (now Shaws), was not old enough to have welcomed John Wesley as he journeyed from Portlaoise to Carlow on one of his last trips to Ireland. The church now fulfils a dual role as the Methodist place of worship and as Athy’s Arts Centre. As I continued walking, I passed on my right St. Dominic’s Park housing estate, built in 1963 and named after the founder of the Dominican order. A former owner of the fields on which the next housing estate was built is remembered in the name Flinter’s Place. Beyond it and again in the distance on the right lies St. Vincent’s Hospital opened in January 1844 as a workhouse. It was there that over 1200 persons died during the Great Famine and those unfortunate people today lie buried in St. Mary’s cemetery. The cemetery is on the left as we near Lennon’s bridge. Once neglected and forgotten it now presents as a peaceful and tidy place to remember the Famine dead after Athy folk participated in the annual National Famine Commemoration Day. Just beyond St. Vincent’s Hospital is the former fever hospital, built in 1841 with the proceeds of a collection taken up in Athy for the benefit of William Keating, a businessman of Market Square. Keating suffered the loss of his business premises following a fire in 1836 and the local people collected the sum of £300 which Keating indicated should be used to build a badly needed fever hospital for the town. On the other side of Lennon’s bridge and the bridge leading to Coolroe I noticed the rope marks cut deep into the corner stones of the bridge arches on the towpath side. These deep cuts are evidence of the heavy strain which must have been felt by the canal horses pulling the boats as they manoeuvred them under the bridges. On the return journey to Augustus bridge I came across fishing plaques embedded at intervals in the ground and put there some years ago by the local angling club. Approximately half way between Lennon’s bridge and Augustus bridge I passed Lovers Lane. Still known as such by the older generation the lane has a dark sinister history. It was there in the first decade of 1900 that a young girl was murdered by, I believe, an English soldier. Now into view comes the malt works which in days gone by gave employment to many local men. Minch Nortons, as it then was, still flourishes but today is heavily mechanised. Still standing, though not used, are the kilns known as Port Arthur and Ladysmith, reminders of a time when the overseas exploits of local men serving in the British army were recognised. I gather the government has recently provided funding to improve the Lennon bridge to Augustus bridge canal towpath walkway. The importance of the canal and the nearby River Barrow as recreational and heritage resources cannot be underestimated. Both of them form very valuable parts of Athy’s public amenities.

Athy family connection with War of Independence

Recently I wrote of the local members of the old I.R.A. who were noted as members of the A Coy of the 5th Battalion Carlow Kildare brigade following the truce of July 1921. There were many family ties between members of the I.R.A. of 1921 and the Cumann na mBan members of that time. Amongst those named were Michael Dooley and John Bradley, the first named a shop keeper of Duke Street, the latter a resident of Offaly Street. The Dooley and Bradley families were connected by marriage as John Bradley’s sister Julia was married to the aforesaid Michael Dooley who was chairman of the Sinn Fein club in Athy. The two members of the Bradley family were joined by several members of the Dooley family in promoting the Irish Republican cause during the Irish War of Independence. The former Julia Bradley, by then married to Michael Dooley, was a member of the Athy branch of Cumann na mBan. Her three daughters were also actively involved in the Republican movement. Kathleen Dooley married Eamon Malone who was for a time Officer Commander of the Carlow Kildare I.R.A. brigade. Her sister Gypsy, who married Bill O’Neill of Newbridge, son of a former station master in Athy, was also a member of the Cumann na mBan. Another sister Hester married local man Joe May who following his arrest by crown forces in November 1920 was incarcerated in Ballykinlar prison camp for almost a year. Hester Dooley before her marriage to Joe May worked in Dublin as secretary to Piaras Beaslai and later General Ginger O’Connell. Joe May’s mother was Mrs. Margaret May of Woodstock Street who was another member of Athy’s Cumann na mBan. Another local family whose members, both male and female, were very actively involved in the Republican Movement was the Lambe family of Upper William Street. Alice Lambe was a member of Cumann na mBan, while her brothers Peter and Frank were active members of the I.R.A. 5th Battalion. Mrs. Julia Dooley, after whose husband Michael the 1934 Council housing estate Dooley’s Terrace was named, was the mother of Paddy Dooley who was first elected to the Dail as a Fianna Fail T.D. for County Kildare in 1959. The Dooley family, extending back over several generations, had possibly the greatest record of involvement in Athy’s municipal affairs than any other family in Athy. That involvement continues to this day with Brian Dooley’s recent appointment as a County Councillor for Athy’s municipal district. Patrick Dooley, brother of Michael Dooley, the Sinn Fein Chairman, was for many years chairman of Athy Urban District Council. It was a position also held by Michael’s son Paddy Dooley, later T.D., and his grandnephew Kieran Dooley. The current County Councillor Brian Dooley’s grandfather Michael was a son of Michael and Julia Dooley. Julia Dooley (nee Bradley) died at her home in St. Michael’s Terrace in August 1957 aged 89 years. Her story and that of the Dooley family as well as that of the Lambes, O’Rourkes, Mays, Bradleys and many other local families, some yet to be identified, is a story of commitment to the cause of Irish freedom in the face of constant harassment by crown forces in the years pre-dating the truce of July 1921. Those families whose members were involved in the I.R.A. or the Cumann na mBan underwent constant unwanted attention by R.I.C., the Black and Tans and the military. The lists of I.R.A. members and Cumann na mBan members included in Eye in the Past No. 1363 were compiled at the end of the truce by or for I.R.A. headquarters in Dublin. One could expect these records to be complete and accurate, but unfortunately they are not. Two omissions I mentioned in that article were the names of Sean Hayden and Eamon Malone. Another omission was that of James O’Keeffe of Ardreigh who later joined the Garda Siochana. He played an active part in the I.R.A. campaign which was later officially recognised, but yet his name is missing from the 1921 list. There may be many others overlooked and my research continues to record as accurately as possible the men and women who were part of the local republican movement of 1919-1921. I am anxious to get background information on Kathleen McDonnell and Rose McDonnell who were listed as Cumann na mBan members in 1921. I would welcome hearing from anyone who can give me information on the McDonnells, or indeed any of those men or women listed as members of the Old I.R.A. or Cumann na mBan in July 1921.

Pat Doyle, Peter Smith and Pat Flood

During the past week Athy has lost two men who in years past carried on business in Leinster Street. Pat Doyle, a Wexford man, came to Athy in 1972 when after many years of retailing experience gained while working for various businesses in the south east opened his own drapery shop at No. 28 Leinster Street. Athy’s main street, known in earlier times as High Street, was also the location of Pat Flood’s business which the Monaghan man opened in 1963. That same street in the 1920s and later was home to two of the largest and busiest commercial firms in the town. Duthie Larges and Jacksons provided a range of services and employment opportunities which unfortunately came to an end with the closure of Duthie Larges and the liquidation of the Jackson company. Jacksons extensive premises were sold off in two lots. Chapman & Timoney acquired Jacksons garage which occupied what is now Perrys supermarket, while Pat Flood with two business associates purchased that part of the Jackson premises from where Quinn & Co. subsequently traded. Nine years after Pat Flood’s arrival in Athy Pat Doyle opened his shop in what was previously Charlie Prendergast’s electrical shop. The neighbouring businesses 37 years ago included Des Noonan’s pub, the fashion shop owned by Misses Farrell and Mulhall, Darlings former barber shop (but by then a private residence) and nearby Hannah Nolan’s drapery shop. The changes in the street since then are quite apparent as all those listed businesses have been replaced not only by new owners but also different types of businesses. It’s a very noticeable feature of life in Athy, and possibly of every town in Ireland, that the constant movement of people both in and out of the town provides an everchanging business format on our main streets. The physical streetscape remains unchanged, but the business names change and at times the business models also change. This latter change comes about almost unnoticed but becomes apparent when one reflects on the number of public houses which once lined the streets of Athy supported by a population less than half of its current size. But it is not only the pubs which have closed and re-opened with new businesses. Long established businesses changed hands and new arrivals, such as Pat Flood in the 1960s and Pat Doyle in the 1970s, renewed or created business models to help regenerate the commercial life of the town. Both Pats retired from their business operations some years ago and they did so with the good wishes of the people of Athy. It was a sad coincidence which saw Pat Doyle and Pat Flood die within days of each other. Both were gentlemen of the highest integrity and well liked within the local community. Both Pats endeared themselves to everyone they came in contact with and both extended courtesy and good humour to all throughout their involvement in various aspects of the town’s life. Pat Doyle’s association with the Credit Union and Pat Flood as a founder member of the Lions Club showed commitment and a willingness to work for the community they both joined when setting up business on the south Kildare town’s main street. Another death noticed as I write this Eye was that of Peter Smith, son of Andy Smith, a shopkeeper of Leinster Street many years ago. Peter after retiring from the ambulance service went to live in Wexford and relatively recently returned to this area. His father, Andy Smith, like Pat Doyle and Pat Flood came to Athy to set up business on Leinster Street. He did so in the early part of the last century and during his years in Athy Andy Smith was a stalwart supporter and member of the local GAA club. Indeed, Smiths of Leinster Street was the ‘eating house’ for county teams involved in matches in Geraldine Park during the 1940s and 1950s. The sadness felt by family members and friends when loved ones die is tempered somewhat when the deceased are elderly, as was the case with Pat Doyle, Peter Flood and Peter Smith. The sudden tragic death of Marian Reid following a road traffic accident at Duke Street on Wednesday afternoon brings in its wake untold sadness and a huge sense of loss for her family and friends. This was the third tragedy I can recall in recent years involving the death of a female pedestrian on our main streets. In each case I believe the vehicle involved was a truck which highlights the need to get heavy duty traffic out of the town and onto a bypass road. The loss when loved ones die is in many ways immeasurable and our sympathies go to the families of all those who have died during the past week.

Athy and the War of Independence

Athy Heritage Company is currently preparing an exhibition to be opened in May dealing with the Irish War of Independence and the part played in that struggle by men and women from Athy and district. I have been researching that local involvement ever since I first interviewed the late Patrick Keogh of Churchtown in July 1985. During that interview I was given the names of those men recalled by Patrick as members of the old I.R.A. over 65 years previously. Over the years I have added to and corrected the list, but even now the definitive list of old I.R.A. members from this area awaits further work. The A Company of the 5th Battalion Carlow Kildare I.R.A. Brigade was centred around Athy. The highest rank accorded to a local man was that held by Eamon Malone of Dunbrin who for a time prior to the truce of July 1921 was Commander of the 5th Battalion and later Officer Commander of the Carlow Kildare Brigade. He was arrested in November 1919 and imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail where he was elected leader of the I.R.A. prisoners and lead the hunger strike of April/May 1920. Patrick Kane of Kilkenny in his statement to the Military History Bureau referred to Eamon Malone as having a difficult assignment when he was appointed Officer Commander of the Carlow/Kildare Brigade. He had much rebuilding to do, according to Kane, while at the same time the police and the military had orders to shoot him on sight. Eamon Malone was described as a small wiry, courageous man, but rather delicate as he suffered from asthma. He married Kathleen Dooley, eldest daughter of Michael Dooley of Duke Street, after whom the council housing estate opened in 1932 was named. His sister Hesther married another local I.R.A. man, Joe May, who like Malone was arrested by the British military authorities on 22nd November 1920. He was subsequently imprisoned for almost a year in Ballykilnar camp where fellow prisoners included Bapty Maher and Richard Murphy. Eamon Malone had to emigrate to England after the establishment of the Irish Free State and while at home in Dublin for Christmas 1937 he contracted pneumonia and died. Eamon Malone is buried in Barrowhouse. The small local authority housing scheme opened in the early 1990s at Woodstock Street and which adjoins the site of the former military barracks was named Malone Terrace in his honour. Following the truce of 11th July 1921 the A Company of the 5th Battalion included the following members: Michael O’Rourke Peter Lambe Frank Lambe Patrick Hayden William Brown Daniel Maher Thomas O’Rourke James O’Rourke Michael Kehoe Patrick Flanagan Philip Murphy J.B. Maher James Davis Joseph Ratchford John Bradley Frank Canning John Dooley James O’Brien Michael Curtis James McNamara Michael Dooley Michael Dooley Daniel Murphy Joseph Donnelly Leo Davis John Delaney Thomas Germaine William Hoare John Hoare Patrick Day This was also an official list compiled for I.R.A. headquarters following the truce but does not include the names of Eamon Malone or Sean Hayden whom I know were active members of the local I.R.A. There was also an active Cumann na mBan branch in Athy attached to the 5th Battalion and the following were the members in July 1921: Julia Whelan, Kilmoroney Kathleen McDonnell Rose McDonnell Mary E. Malone Mrs. Julia Dooley, St. Michael’s Tce. Mrs. May, Woodstock St. Mrs. O’Neill, Newbridge Alice Lambe, Upper William St. Mrs. John Whelan, Ballylinan Miss Murphy, Maganey Christina Malone I would like to hear from anyone who can give me any information on any old I.R.A. member or Cumann na mBan member, whether or not included in the above lists, bearing in mind that honouring the men and women of this area who were involved in the War of Independence is the responsibility of all of us who today enjoy the freedom they achieved. The A Company based in Athy comprised the 5th Battalion with the B Company in Barrowhouse, C Company in Moone, the D Company in Ballylinan, the E Company in the Moate and the F Company, Castledermot. Information on any of the I.R.A. members in any of those companies would also be most welcome.